As demand for electricity soars, the pollution produced from fossil
fuel-burning plants is heading towards dangerous levels. Coal, gas and
oil burning power plants are already responsible for half of America's
air pollution. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide, which depletes the
protection of the ozone. The soft coal, which many power plants burn, contains
sulfur When the gaseous byproducts are absorbed in clouds, precipitation
becomes sulfuric acid.. Coal also contains radioactive material. A coal-fired
power plant emits more radiation into the air than a nuclear power
plant.
The world's reserves of fossil fuels are running
out. The sulfurous coal which many plants use is more polluting than the
coal that was previously used. Most of the anthracite, which plants also
burn, has been used up. As more soft coal is used, the amount of pollution
will increase. According to estimates, fossil fuels will be burned up within
fifty years. There are large reserves of uranium, and new breeder
reactors can produce more fuel than they use. Unfortunately this doesn't
mean we can have an endless supply of fuel Breeder reactors need a feedstock
of uranium and thorium, so when we run out of these two fuels (in about
1000 years), breeder reactors will cease to be useful. This is still a
more lengthy solution to the current burning of coal, gas, and oil.

2. Reliability

Nuclear power plants need little fuel, so they are less vulnerable to
shortages because of strikes or natural disasters. International relations
will have little effect on the supply of fuel to the reactors because uranium
is evenly deposited around the globe. One disadvantage of uranium mining
is that it leaves the residues from chemical processing of the ore, which
leads to radon exposure to the public. These effects do not outweigh the
benefits by the fact that mining uranium out of the ground reduces future
radon exposures. Coal burning leaves ashes that will increase future radon
exposures. The estimates of radon show that it is safer to use nuclear
fuel than burn coal. Mining of the fuel required to operate a nuclear plant
for one year will avert a few hundred deaths, while the ashes from a coal-burning
plant will cause 30 deaths.

3. Safety

Safety is both a pro and con, depending on which way you see it. The
results of a compromised reactor core can be disastrous, but the precautions
that prevent this from happening prevent it well. Nuclear power is one
the safest methods of producing energy. Each year, 10,000 to 50,000 Americans
die from respiratory diseases due to the burning of coal, and 300 are killed
in mining and transportation accidents. In contrast, no Americans have
died or been seriously injured because of a reactor accident or radiation
exposure from American nuclear power plants. There are a number of safety
mechanisms that make the chances of reactor accidents very low. A series
of barriers separates the radiation and heat of the reactor core from
the outside. The reactor core is contained within a 9-inch thick steel
pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is surrounded by a thick concrete
wall. This is inside a sealed steel containment structure, which itself
is inside a steel-reinforced concrete dome four feet thick. The dome is
designed to withstand extremes such as earthquakes or a direct hit by a
crashing airliner. There is also a large number of sensors that pick up
increases in radiation or humidity. An increase in radiation or humidity
could mean there is a leak. There are systems that control and stop the
chain reaction if necessary. An Emergency Core Cooling System ensures that
in the event of an accident there is enough cooling water to cool the reactor.

Cons -

1. Meltdowns

If there is a loss of coolant water in a fission reactor, the rods would
overheat. The rods that contain the uranium fuel pellets would dissolve,
leaving the fuel exposed. The temperature would increase with the lack
of a cooling source. When the fuel rods heat to 2800°C, the fuel
would melt, and a white-hot molten mass would melt its way through the
containment vessels to the ground below it. This is a worst case scenario,
as there are many precautions taken to avoid this. Emergency water reservoirs
are designed to immediately flood the core in the case of sudden loss of
coolant. There are normally multiple sources of water to draw from, as
the low pressure injection pumps, containment spray system, and refueling
pumps are all potentially available, and all draw water from different
sources. The disaster at Three Mile Island was classified as a partial
meltdown, caused by the failure to supply coolant to the core. Although
the core was completely destroyed, the radioactive mass never penetrated
the steel outlining the containment structure. Several feet of special
concrete, a standard precaution, was capable of preventing leakage for
several hours, giving operators enough time to fix the flooding system
of the reactor core. The worst case of a nuclear disaster was in 1986 at
the Chernobyl facility in the Ukraine. A fire ripped apart the casing of
the core, releasing radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. Thirty-one
people died as an immediate result. And estimated 15,000 more died in the
surrounding area after exposure to the radiation. Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl are just examples of the serious problems that meltdowns can
create.

2. Radiation

Radiation doses of about 200 rems cause radiation sickness, but only
if this large amount of radiation is received all at once. The average
person receives about 200 millirems a year from everyday objects and outer
space. This is referred to as background radiation. If all our power came
from nuclear plants we would receive an extra 2/10 of a millirem a year.
The three major effects of radiation (cancer, radiation sickness
and genetic mutation) are nearly untraceable at levels below about 50 rems.
In a study of 100,000 survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, there have been 400 more cancer deaths than normal, and there
is not an above average rate of genetic disease in their children. During
the accident at Three Mile Island in America, people living within a 50
mile radius only received an extra 3/10 of one percent of their average
annual radiation. This was because of the containment structures, the majority
of which were not breached. The containment building and primary pressure
vessel remained undamaged, fulfilling their function.

3. Waste Disposal

The byproducts of the fissioning of uranium-235 remains radioactive
for thousands of years, requiring safe disposal away from society until
they lose their significant radiation values. Many underground sites have
been constructed, only to be filled within months. Storage facilities are
not sufficient to store the world’s nuclear waste, which limits the amount
of nuclear fuel that can be used per year. Transportation of the waste
is risky, as many unknown variables may affect the containment vessels.
If one of these vessels were compromised, the results may be deadly.